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| Member |
You can go to the local truck stop (if you have one) and get some equipment trader/truck trader books. That will give you some ideas on pricing. I think you should look at a rubber tire backhoe. An example would be something like a Cat 416 (google images). Bucket in front, backhoe in the rear. Something like that should do you fine. Like said, Cat, John Deere even Case would be my main choices. | |||
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safe & sound |
 There are certainly things an excavator can do better, but the flip side is that there are certainly things a loader can do better. So it depends on what the task at hand is. | |||
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| Green grass and high tides  |
I call them a dozer either with a blade, bucket or brush rake on them. And rear winch would be needed as well. That would also work. But the excavator with the thumb would be preferred. But I could make any of the above work. I would like to get the best piece I could for the $ "Practice like you want to play in the game" | |||
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| Member |
I guess there are regional differences in the equipment that is commonly used. I would not have any use for a traditional tracked loader. If it will work for ORC then thats cool. | |||
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| Oh stewardess, I speak jive.  |
Which sorts are best suited to dig a full sized basement, and some road/site/berm work in/on the Rocky Mountains? | |||
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| Member |
That's certainly true. But CAT track loaders in production start at the size of that 953C you posted and get bigger from there. These are not machines that are in the least candidates for old rugged cross needs. In my area (NE) I haven't seen a tracked loader outside a dump for years. “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.” | |||
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| Member |
Again it all depends on the work. Dozers are way simpler than excavators and easier to maintain, etc. etc. And if road work is any meaningful part of why you need a machine having a real dozing blade (VPAT) is what's actually needed. For many years before I got my excavator I did almost everything in the woods with a dozer and a chainsaw. And terrain that would never work for an excavator is easy for a dozer. And a quick look online shows decent small dozers are readily available in my area(I have a CAT D3GXL) with many machines I would consider very usable near your price. I have no experience of your terrain, but rubber tracked stuff (smaller excavators) really, really suck in many types of terrain (my skid steerer is rubber tracked and uses the same setup mini excavators use and suck s in everything but normal summer dry terrain). “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.” | |||
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| Ammoholic |
Yeah, I got to play with a contractor’s rented Hitachi 450 and three scoops would have a substantial load in a ten wheeler vs the twenty or so with my little 312. There are a lot of places on the ranch that one couldn’t get the 450 into though, at least not without tearing a lot up. It’s a lot like airplanes, different ones are better for different missions. If one can’t justify a fleet, you pick the one that best fits most of your missions and drive on. | |||
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| Member |
I have purchased a few pieces of equipment at machinery auctions. I noticed there were obvious used equipment dealers bidding as well. I am sure that if you bought from a dealer you would pay much more than if you went to the auction yourself. If you know a lot about engines and machinery, you would probably do very well bidding yourself. If not, bring a friend or professional to give you some guidance. Also a friend has some excavators and other equipment. He mostly owns Bobcat because it is high quality and less expensive to repair. However he can trailer anything he has to the repair shop. -c1steve | |||
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| Ammoholic |
Yeah, dozer and excavators are different animals with different strengths and weaknesses. We actually got the 312B from Musselman Equipment in Lewiston, ID along with a D5C series III with a six way blade. It doesn’t have the parallelogram rippers like the G models, but it is still a handy machine. In particularly rocky spots I’ll use the excavator instead of the dozer, but other than that, it’s the dozer for road building. You can actually work on all kinds of terrain with an excavator, but it does take a little longer because while you can claw your way up slopes that a dozer might struggle with, when you get to where you want to work, you have to scratch together a level pad to work from and when you’re done you may want to return it to native slope. There is a little bit of art to scratching out a level pad when you can’t do a lot of swinging without sliding down the hill. | |||
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| Member |
I have no idea your terrain. But where I live in Maine there is simply no terrain that a dozer would struggle with and an excavator is usable. In theory you can drag yourself up stuff, but when the terrain is less stable than the weight to pull yourself and you just dig an unusable hole and make no forward progress (I have this all the time) you go nowhere. But in any case back to the ultimate point of this. I have several excavators (311 size and up), a Dozer (d3g size), a tracked loader, several big tractors and a backhoe loader (420). All on a farm and woods that I have to cut for money. If I have to go back to a single machine for everything and have money in the range of orc I would settle on a CAT mini backhoe the biggest that my budget would allow. Not good for everything but mostly good for most things. If I get a second machine it would be a dozer. FWIW> “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.” | |||
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| Ammoholic |
Steep, shale and sandstone. Lots of oaks around complicating things.
I'd agree. Once the roads were in, the excavator gets a LOT more use than the dozer, and the excavator is handy for a lot of different things. | |||
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| Green grass and high tides |
So guys I have been back to looking a bit. What about something like this. I know it does not have the hyd. thumb but maybe it could be added for a reasonable amount? https://www.machinerypete.com/...illar/303cr/19946879 Among other tasks such as knocking over trees up to 8 in diameter. Digging up stumps, this is some of what I want to do. right here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWFT2ybqt_8 Additional thoughts? "Practice like you want to play in the game" | |||
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We Are...MARSHALL |
I guess it depends on the species of the tree and the soil conditions but I don’t think that 303 is up that challenge. My excavator is twice that size and struggles to knock over 12” diameter trees. I’m not a professional equipment operator by any stretch of the imagination so take that into consideration. You can easily rent a 303 somewhere to try it out and it shouldn’t be more than 3-500 for the day. Build a man a fire and keep him warm for a night, set a man on fire and keep him warm the rest of his life. | |||
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| Green grass and high tides |
12" may be a stretch. Maybe dig around the bigger ones a bit and then push over might be a better description. "Practice like you want to play in the game" | |||
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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else  |
The 303 is a tiny machine. The kubota in the video is considerably larger. As was said before maybe 305 or larger and don’t forget the thumb. ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | |||
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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else |
I agree! That’s pretty much SOP for any tree and machine. ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | |||
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| We Are...MARSHALL |
Even digging the roots is still a true challenge. If you’re passing through WV anytime soon contact me and I’ll let you try my excavator out. Downfall is no one will be traveling for a while. In light of the current situation I suspect we may see a little drop in the price of equipment in the coming weeks but with a rebound to follow. Stay safe. Build a man a fire and keep him warm for a night, set a man on fire and keep him warm the rest of his life. | |||
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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else |
I know that you are not interested in renting a machine but as a way to test drive a piece before you buy it I just received an email from CAT that they are offering 25% off rentals when reserved online.. Enter “PROMO CODE 25OFF “ if you’re interested. ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | |||
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| Green grass and high tides |
Thanks sml. I appreciate the info. "Practice like you want to play in the game" | |||
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